The Gongchen Bridge, a historic stone arch bridge over the Grand Canal in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province. Photo: VCG

Hangzhou, which is hosting the 19th Asian Games, has ranked among the top three cities in China in terms of tourism popularity during the upcoming eight-day Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday, with travel orders up more than five times year-on-year. The local government says the city will see its highest number of tourists in recent years during the Asian Games.

With more than a week left from the holidays, the demand for tourism has shot up with the number of domestic travel bookings increasing by nearly five times year-on-year. Cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Xi 'an are among the top ten popular destinations.

The hosting of the Asian Games has increased international air ticket bookings to Hangzhou by more than 20 times compared with last year, and the number of hotel bookings around event venues has increased by more than three times compared with last year.

Tickets for swimming, diving, table tennis, badminton and other popular events of the 19th Asian Games are almost sold out, according to travel agencies, adding that hotels, air and train tickets in host city Hangzhou and surrounding co-host cities Ningbo, Wenzhou, Huzhou, Shaoxing and Jinhua are in short supply.

Tourists from Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, and Guangzhou outside Zhejiang Province, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Taizhou, Shaoxing and Jiaxing within the province, as well as Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Malaysia, are the backbone to come to Hangzhou for travelling during the Games. 

"I bought several tickets for the Asian Games early, and I can't wait to go to Hangzhou with my family during the holiday to watch the games and experience the local customs," said a tourist from Beijing.

"I gave up my plan to go home for the long holiday and I decided to stay in Hangzhou and enjoy the atmosphere of the game," a sports enthusiast surnamed Zhang, who works in Hangzhou, told the media. "I would rather stay here than spend more than usual air and hotel prices to travel," he added.

Over 12,000 athletes from across Asia, 5,000 team officials, 4,700 technical officials, 12,000 media reporters, and millions of spectators are expected to participate, making it the largest Games ever.

Due to the pandemic, the 2022 Asian Games and Asian Para Games were postponed until 2023. The Asian Games are set for September 23 to October 8, followed by the Asian Para Games from October 22 to 28.

The domestic and foreign tourists brought by the Hangzhou Asian Games is only a microcosm of the recovery of people-to-people exchanges between China and the outside world after the epidemic. With half a month to go before the National Day holiday, the bookings of international air tickets and international hotels have far exceeded those from last year, and the bookings of outbound tourism products have increased by more than 20 times year-on-year.

Under the superposition effect of the Asian Games and the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday, Hangzhou is expected to receive more than 20 million domestic and foreign tourists, which will have a direct driving effect on transportation, hotels, scenic spots, catering, shopping and other consumption.

From January to June 2023, Hangzhou received a total of 53.533,000 tourists and tourism income of 91.5 billion yuan, an increase of 64.5 percent and 65.3 percent over the same period last year respectively.

Global Times